Spring motor and its installation in phonographs



Maren 2s 1924 M, WEIL SPRING vMOTOR AND ITs INSTALLATION IN PHONOGRAPHS @noma/tod, #fari/lidia@ We?? M. WEIL SPRING MOTOR AND `ITS INSTALLATION IN PHONOGRAPHS Maich 25 1924.

Filevd OCc. 22, 1920 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 25 1924.

M. WEIL SPRING MOTOR AND ITS INSTALLATION IN PHONOGRAPHS Fil'ed Oct. 22

1920 3 Sheebs-Sheet 5 idatented Mar. g5, 1924..

' 'fra MAXIMILIAN VIEIL; OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SPRING ifi/IOTR .LAND .ITS INSTALLATIOIIEN PHONOGRAIHS.

Application VfiledGctober 22, 1920. Serial No. 415,727.

To @Hicham t may concern.'

Be it Vknown vthat 1I, MAXIMILIAN VIIIL, a citizen of the .United States, and resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring Motors `and 'Their Installations in Phonographs, ,of which the following is a specication.

My present invention relates in lits more specific application to spring power driving mechanisms forplionographs, andito phonographs embodying such mechanism in novel combinations, although -many of the `features of the invention-are broadly applicable to spring power or equivalent mechanisms regardless in whatV relation they yare employed and regardless what lthey serve to propel.

My invention is particularly concerned with speed controlled motors of the type embodying a plurality of driving springs whether built intoa single or into two or more power drums or other units.

Spring breakages occur without notice in the case of phonograph motors and frequently in the middle of performances. Furthermore, phonographs used in small communities or in camps remote from service stations are frequently disabled by such breakages for prolonged periods pending the arrival of substitute mechanisms or of a specially skilled mechanic capable of making the necessary repairs.

According to one feature of the invention, I provide a compact motor of the above type equipped with means by which the same can be set for satisfactory, elficient, operation even though some of the driving `springs are broken or disconnected.

In one preferred embodiment, the driving springs are arranged in equal groups of one or more, and means is provided for readily setting sclected group at will either into or out of operative connection, the inactive group, accordingto one mode of operation, being kept in reserve in readiness to be placed into service at any time, and especially at such time as there is a breakdown in the group or groups in use.

In another preferred embodiment, the groups of springs are permanently connected to act in multiple and with a minimum of wasted energy upon the'mechanism to be driven, meansbeing prOVided-toreadily set `line the apparatus for efficient action when .less

than all of the springs are inoperative condition.

According to another prefered feature,

Athe means for effecting the settings in the various embodiments of the `inventionis arand accessible from the exterior of `the apiparatus. In the preferred embodimenuthe lever is resilient and arranged to snap, for

each setting into .cooperation with a corresponding stop, in orderto prevent undesired displacement.

The present invention shares in common with that of my copending application, Serial No. 396,211, filed July 14, 1920, the object of quickly restoring a multi-spring motor to operative condition after a breakdown in the spring mechanism has occurred and this preferably by a simple manipulation, and as will appear from the following detailed description and from certain of the claims, there are broad novel structural features common to thetwo applications.

In the accompanying drawings in which `are shown several possible embodiments of the various features of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view, partly -in side elevation, of one embodiment of Liower plant,

Fig. 2 is a `view similar to Ilig. 1 with parts broken away of corresponding transmission means,

Fig. 3 isfa sectional view taken along the Fig. '1l is a sectional view taken along the of Fig. 2,

VFig. 5 is a transverse sectional view `of another embodiment of power plant,

Fig. 6 is a vier.' simil ar to Fig. .2 of transl:mission means coactiiig with the parts shown in Fig. '5,

VFig. 7 is a sectional view taken alongthe line 7 7 of Fig. 6, y

Figs. 8, 9,10 and 11 are sectional views laken along the lines 8-S, 949, 10--10 and 11i-11 of 5; and,

Ilig. isa sectional View taken alongthe line 1Q-12 of Fig. 5.

VReferring now to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 4, I have shown a motor comprising a base member l to be mounted preferably upon the lower surface of a'inotor board .shownat B in Fig-5. rIhe base inember is formed from a casting and has integral therewith standards 2 through which extends a supporting rod 3 for the power plant, this rod being retained against dis placement by a set screw 4 through one of the standards. The power plant comprises a single integral sleeve 5 floatingly mounted upon rod 3 Vwith small clearance. Encir cling the sleeve is a drum preferably formed of two cups 6 and 7, cup 6 having a base 8 encircling the sleeve 5 as at 9 and floating thereonyand cup 7 having a base 10, similarly related to the opposite end of the sleeve as at 11. A driving spring 12 is coiled about the sleeve 5 and secured thereto preferably by a stud 13, the opposite end of said coil spring being secured as at 14 to the cup 7. A driving spring 15 to one side of spring 12 is similarly related to cup 6. A p-late17 separates the springs 12 and 15 from each other and is preferably clamped in place between the rims of t-he two cups Gand 7 by the same bolts 18 which serve to rigidly secure the two cups together in order to form the drum.

The 'sleeve 5 is preferably extended beyond the end 8 of the drum as at 19 and carries a winding gear mechanism thereon. The details of the latter mechanism are not involved in the presentinvention and it will, therefore, simply be noted briefly that the winding mechanism may comprise (see Figs. 1 and 5) a gear 20 secured upon the sleeve, the winding torque being transmitted to said gear from a winding handle (not shown) upon a winding shaft 21. A p'awl 22 upon the sleeve prevents unwinding by its co-operation with a ratchet wheel 23 upon the winding shaft. The details of the preferred form of winding mechanism are fully disclosed and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 389,803 filed June 18` 1920.

Secured to the end of the drum opposite` the winding mechanism and preferably directly to base 10 of cup 7 I provide a power delivery gear 24 for mesh with a transmission to be fully described below. It Vwill be seen that the 'springs 12 and 15 are connected in multiple or in parallel between the winding gear mechanism and the power delivery gear, so that if either spring should be ruptured or otherwise eliminated from operative connection, a complete power circuit would remain through the other.

The transmission mechanism preferably comprises an integral casting having a head 25 and legs 26-27 28 projecting from the Vsides of the head terminating in corresponding feet 26', 27 and 28 to be superposed upon corresponding legs 30, 31 and 32 inte- -gral with the casting 1 to one side of the drum and secured in place thereon by screws (not shown) serving to secure the parts together. In generahthe relation of the castr26 and the other in anintermediate leg 36 ingol to the transmission unit/'is similar' to that in my copending application Serial No. 339,803 above referred to. i V

A transmission shaft 33 is supported bya pair of bearings 34 and 35, the' former in leg as shown. Shaft 33 carries a transmission gear 37 slidable upon a key 33 and normally meshing with power delivery gearr24. At the end of shaft 33 to the right'of leg 36 there is rigidly mounted a bevel gear 39 meshing' with a corresponding bevel gear 40 upon a vertical shaft 41. Shaft 41 rests in a thrust bearing 42 within the head 25 of the transmission casting, the second bearing 43 for this shaft being near the free end of leg 36. The bevel gear has ,a hub 44 upon which is mounted a spiral gear 45'meshing when the motor is assembled with afcorresponding spiral pinion 46 near thelower end of the turn table shaft or driving'spindle 47, the free end 43 of saidv spindle resting upon head 25 in a manner (not shown) but appearing clearly in my copending application above referred to. Y.

Legs 26V Vand 36 are provided with inte-A gral offsets 49 carryingbearings '50 and 51 for a slidable shaft 52parallel to shaft to one side thereof and at a lower elevation as appears best in ig, 3. A gear 53 providedwith a number of teeth, double that of gear 37 Vis pinned `to'shaft 52 and is .normally to one side of gear 24 and out ofimesh therewith. rThe center of shaft 52 is spaced from the peripheryof gear 24 by a distance equal to the radius Yof gear 53so that the latter gear will readily enter into mesh with Y gear 24 when shifted to the appropriate ein tent, as will be clear from F ig. 3. Y A double shifting fork 54 cooperates with a groove 55'in gear 37 and vwitha similar groove 56 in gear 53, so thatas said fork is operated, the gear 37 will be thrown out of mesh with gear 24 and gear into mesh therewith.V The distance between the planes of adjacent snrfacesof gears 37 and is preferably less than the width of gear 24 'so that gear 44- will enter into cooperation with teeth of gear 25 before gear 34 is completely Vdisengaged. By changing gears in the manner just described, it will be seen-that the speed multiplying ratio of the transmission is'V divided by two, for a purpose which will ap-V pear clearly in thc description of the operation below.

To transmit torque to the bevel gear 39YV when the larger gear 53 is in use,l preferably provide the-group of `gears 57 comprising a gear 53 pinned upon shaft 3 3, a gear V The shiftinofork 54E is preferably mounted upon a shitting rod 63 extending through a bearing 64 in the transmission frame, the 'said r-o-d being operated upon by a lever 65 pivoted as at 66 upon the transmission frame, land pinned at one end as at 67 to the shifting rod 63. ,The free arm of the lever is provided witha 'finger grip portion 68 preferably directly above 'the motor board B upon which the motor is supported. By preference the entire lever or, if desired, the port-ion 69 thereof. above the pivot 66 is formed of spring metal andh-as a struck out lug 70 adapted to enter either notch 7l or notch 72 in a slot 73 provided in a metallic cover plate 7l which closes a corresponding slot 75 in the motor board. The edge 76 of the slot is preferably so rela-ted with respect to the resilient spring metal lever that the same is pressed with considerable force thereagainst so that when the lever is `broirght into registry with notch 71 or 72, the'struck out lug 70 therein will enter into mesh with such notch. The notches are so disposed that when thelever cooperates with notch 7l, gear 37 will be in mesh with gear 24 and when it cooperates withnotch 72, vgear`53 Awill be in mesh and .gear 37 out of mesh.

By preference a pin 77 is employed for securing the lever to the shifting rod 63, the corresponding opening 7 8 in said rod being, however, preferablylarger than said pin in order to permit lost motion for the vertical co-mponent'of the motion of the lever end to which the rod 63 is secured, so that there shall be no lateral pressure upon said rod in shifting operation.

The motor is provided with the usual centrifugal governor 79 for limiting the rotation to the predetermined speed corresponding to the setting of said governor. The construction of the governor need not be set forth in detail, it beingsimply noted that the-same includes a shaft 8O mounted in bearings 81 and 82 and carrying a worin 83 driven through a fiber worm wheel 84, the Alatter mounted upon the turn table shaft or spindle 47.

In operation. when both springs are in operative condition and properly anchored, the device will be set in the position shown in the drawings. Energy is delivered to the springs through the winding mechanism which directly rotates sleeve 5 and, therefore, winds up the two springs l2 and l5 from their inner ends, gear 24 and with it the drum being held stationary. In the use of the motor for playing a record, the sleeve 5 is hel-d against reverse rotation by the pawl and ratchet of the winding mechanism and the springs l2 and 15 operate to rotate the drum 6-7 and with 'it the gear 2%. The power from the gear 2a is transmitted .hthrough gear 37, shaft 33, bevel gear`39,

fver is firmly maintained with lug 70 in notch 7l and thereby securely retains the `gear 37 against coming out of engagement vwith gear 24 and gear 53 against coming into contact therewith. The parts are proportioned for etlicient operation, that is, so

that. the energy wasted as friction in the governor shall be but a small fraction of `that delivered as useful power.

When either of the springs breaks, since gears 37 and 24e are in mesh, the other spring will not release the energy stored therein. With this connectionA` however the power of the single operative spring will be insuflicient to continue driving the motor at the required speed. The operator thereupon. grips onerating handle 68, pushes it ont of the notch 71 and then draws it toward the left until the lug is aligned with the notch 72 and then lets go. By reason of its resilience, the lever will thereupon cause lug to snap into `notch 72. By this simple shifting of the lever 65, the shifting rod 63 is moved toward the right displacing the shifting foi-lr 54 to move gear 37 out of engagement with gear 2l and before such disengagement has been completed, to cause gear 53 to enter into mesh with gear 24s. As a consequence the energy stored in the intact spring is not released by the shifting action. rThe gear being pinned to shaft 52, the entire shaft is moved therewith toward the right and gear 62 thereon is brought into mesh with both gears 58 and 59. The power is, thereupon, transmitted from gear 24 in succession through gear 53, shaft 52, gear 62, gear 59 and gear and thence through shaft 33 to the bevel gears 39, 40 and the spiral gears 45 and 46, to drive the spindle or turn table shaft 47. By reason of the substitution of the larger gear in the transmission.y the latter will operate at a speedmultiplying ratio one half as great as that when gear 37 was employed. The single operative spring will. therefore, drive the turn tab-le shaft at the speed for which the governor was set, the running period ot the :fully wound motor in this case being` however, no more than one-halt that resulting from the use of the gear 37 with both springs in operative condition.

lt is seen that in the latter operation the number of successive gears in the power train is greater by two than before the shift. so that the spindle will be driven in the same direction whether gear 37 or gear 53 meshes with gear 24. It is understood that gear 58 and 59 are of equal size and thus mately double that obtainable upon one spring with the lowered'transmission ratio. 1Where the same transmission is employed both prior and subsequent to the rupture of a spring, it is apparent that this transmission must have a ratio so low that with one of the springs broken, the speed will be reached for which the governor is set. "With such ratio, when both springs are in operativecondition, the governor preventing any increase in speed, the excess power would be wasted as friction in said governor .and the running time would be no longer,

'gie

prior than subsequent to spring rupture.

It will be apparent that the invention although preferably embodied in a two spring motor as shown, can be carried out with three or more springs arranged in multiple or in parallel and that the principle of the transmission mechanism disclosed can be embodied to provide in general with such larger number of springs, a running time ofthe motor substantially directly proportional to the number of the springs in operative condition.

VThe turn table shaft i7 preferably extends within a bearing lubricated from an oil soaked felt washer 86 at the upper end of the bearing functioning as a reservoir of lubricant. The lower surface of the bearing 85 isl adjacent the fiber worm wheel 84 and a felt annulus S7 surrounds the spindle 47 and is interposed between the bea-ring and the fiber gear. In operation, the lubricant will work its. way downwardly from the reservoir 86 along the bearing to lubricate the same andthe excess will be absorbed by the felt annulus 87, part of the lubricant being delivered therefrom to the fiber gear. S4 to prevent the same from becoming eX- cessively dry and brittle.

Iart of the oil'in the annulus ST is thrown outwardly by centrifugal force to lubricate the adjacent parts of the motor and more particularly the adjacent governor bearing 82.

Referring to the form of the invention shown in Figs. 5 to12 inclusive, I have shown intransverse section, a frame 101 generally similar to that shown inFig. 1. A supporting 'rod 102 for carrying the power means is mounted upon the'frame substantially as in Fig. 1. In the present embodiment, I provide twol separate and disineaeee tinct power plants 103A and 103BV ol" equal external diameter, mounted Vside by side upon the said rod and separated by a vertical bearing 10%. Referring more particu'- larly to power plant 103AV the same com-Y prises substantially a two-spring power'unit kof a type in common use and which taken Y by itself is not my invention. Briefly, this 'forV unit includes a pair of bushings 105A andV 106A encircling the rod 102 and a drum formed of two'cups, therbase 107^iof cup 108A floating upon bushing 105?L as at 109A and the base 110A of'cup 111A iioating in similar manner upon bushing 106A as at 112A.V A power-delivery gear 113A Vis keyed upon the end of bushing 106A. Nithin thev drum are disposed a pair of coil springs 1142A and 115A. Spring 114A islsecured to bushing 105A at one end and coiled-thereaboutrwithinthe drum and secured to the latter at its outer end. Spring 115A is similarly coiled about bushing 106A Vand within the drum and similarly secured at one end to the said bushing and at the other' to vthe drum. The cups 108A and 111A are preferably assembled toform the'drum and toretain a separating plate 117A'in the same manner as in Fig. l. It will be seen that in this embodiment of the construction, the springs 114@A and 115A Vare connected in i series, the former from bushing 105A to the drum and `the latter from the drum to the bushing 106A whence the power is delivered to the delivery gear 118A. Y

The power plant 103B is composed of ele-V ments identicaly with those thus far described in connection with power plant103A, corresponding parts being designated by the same numerals withV exponent B. The two units are, however, preferably arranged so that the delivery gears 113A and 113B face each other. y p By preference bushing 105A is pinned to the supporting rod 102 as at 11eA and the corresponding bushing 105? of unit 1029iB is similarly pinned to the supporting rod as at 118B.

10oVV The bushing 105A is provided with an eX- Y tensionV upon which is mounted a winding mechanism W preferably identical in 'construction with that described above and shown in side `view'i'n Fig. 1. It will be apparent that as the winding mechanism is operated, the bushing 105A will transmit rotation through spring l1141A -to the drumV i and from the drum through spring AV to lthe bushing 106A,V the latter being held.

' scribed below.

seen are operatively connected in multiple or in parallel between the winding mechanism and the transmission.

The transmission frame T is arranged in a manner generally similar to that shown in Fig. 2, similar parts beingdesignated by the same reference numerals as in Fig. 2 vexcept that such numerals are primed. rlhe transmission shaft 33 has slidably keyedA thereon a pair of gears, gear 37A normally meshing with power transmission gear 113A `and gear 37B with power transmission 113B. These gears are preferably integrally connected and a fork 54 straddling a groove 55 between said gears is ope-rated by a shifting rod 63 generally similar to rod 53 in Fig. 2, the rod being in turn operated by a manual shifting mechanism preferably substantially identical with that shown in Fig. 2 and described above and which need, therefore not again be described. As shown in Fig. 12 the cover platehas three not-ches 123, 124, 125 corresponding to three positions of the shifting lever to be fully de- The lug on lever 66 is in the centralnotch 121i when both gears 37A and 37B are in mesh as shown in the drawings. It will be understood that the transmission frame is mounted upon the base frame to one side of the power plants and that gears 87A and 37B mesh with the gears 113A and 113B at points above the points of contact indicated on the drawings.

lll/Then the motor is operated, with both power plants operatively connected in the manner shown on the drawings it will be understood that both of said plants deliver` power in parallel to the shaft 33 and thence through the bevel gear 39, bevel gear 40 and spiral gear 45 to the turn table shaft or spindle (not shown). Vhen thus operated, the considerable power delivered by the two power plants operating in parallel will rapidly bring the motor up to speed.

In this connection, it will be understood that the gears 113A and 113B must be made to rotate in the same direction, viewed from an end of the apparatus. Since the power plants extend in opposite directions, it fol lows, in order to produce this result, that the springs must be arranged in such manner that if the two power plants faced the same way the gears 113A and 113B would rotate in opposite directions. As will appear in Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11 this elfect is 0btained by coiling the` springs 114iA and 1115A of power plant 103A in a direction opposite to that of the springs 114B and 115B of power plant 103B. It will be understood that left handed and right handed springs. need not be separately made for this purpose, since a right handed spring` turned face down becomes left handed and vice versa.

Each gear 37A and 37B is preferably double the width of the corresponding power delivery gear so that if these gears are shifted to the right through aI distance slightly greater than the width of gear 113B, gear 37B will be brought completely out of meshwith gear 113B and the left half of gear 37A will remain in mesh with-gear 113A. The parts are soproportioned and arranged that when lever 3231" is shifted to the left to effect this setting, lug 'T6' therein will enter notch 123. llhen. thus connected it is apparent that power plant 103B is completely eliminated from the mechanical circuit and the propulsion will be effected by power plant 103A operating alone. lith the gears shift ed to the position just described, when the winding mechanism is operated, the torque appliedto bushing 105B through the support.- ing rod 102 will be delivered through the springslll1B and 115B in series to the bushing 106B and to the gear 113B but since the latter is deineshed from gear 37B, it is not retained against rotation. The entire power unit will, therefore, be' rotated, and the springs of this unit will not be effectively wound. nor can energy be delivered therefrom, I prefer 'to use the motor shown in Fig. 5 in the manner just described in which one of the power plants, say the left handed one, will be kept idle and in reserve so that when the power plant at the right breaks. down, as, for instance, by rupture of either springs 111A or 115A, the operating lever 66 need merely be shifted to the right to throw the reserve power plant into service and to eliminate the inoperative unit from the mechanical circuit. lt will be seen that the gears 37A and 37B can also be shifted from central position tothe left and notch 125 in the cover plate determines the setting for operation upon the left hand power plant with the one at the right out of service. The motor can be operated, as heretofore noted, with both power plants in service.

l'n this case when one of the power plants breaks down, the device will continue to operate at the desired speed even if the gears remain "i the neutral position shown in the drawings ln this case the power plant in service will rotateV the broken unit by torque delivered from the corresponding gear 37B through the other gear 37A. However, in this case, it would be preferable to disconneet the gears, in orderto prevent the rattling noise which may result if the inoperative or idle power unit is continuously rotated during operation. For this purpose the operating lever 6G is merely shifted, either to notch 125 at the right or to notch 123 at the left, depending-upon which unit has broken down. If lthe motor stops running when the lever is shifted in one direction, the operative unit has been cut out of service, so that upon shifting to the other notch the correct connection willl be established. Thus, it is ascertained which of the units is broken without need for inspection of the interior thereof,

lt will be apparent that the principle of the invention disclosed in Figs. 5 to 12 could be embodied in a construction in which each powerI plant embodies a single spring motor. It will, furthermore, be apparent that the same principle could be carried forward in a construction embodying three or more separate and distinct power plants each having one,vtwo or more springs connected either in series or in multiple, but l prefer to employ the specific construction shown and described.

lt will be understood that gearing similar to that employed in the embodiment of Figs.

1 to Li for changing the speed ratio of the transmission in accordance with the number of springs in use could be applied to the embodiment of Figs, 5 to 12.

T he specific shifting mechanism, it will be understood, is applicable generally to any form of motor in order to operate any means for changing mechanical connections. For instance, this device might be used to advantage for operating the clutch employed in the invention of my copending application, Serial No. 396,211, filed July 14, 1920.

l claim:

l. A spring motor comprising in combination, a frame, a power plant mounted thereon comprising a plurality of driving springs, governor means for limiting the operation toa predetermined substantially uniform speed, and means for altering the mechanical transmitting connections in the completely assembled motor for operation at the said predetermined speed with less than all of said springs operatively connected.

2, A spring motor comprising in combination, a frame, a power plant mounted thereon comprising a pluralityof coaxial coil drivingl springs, a single winding means for delivering power to all of said springs, a driving shaft driven from said springs, governor means for limiting the rotation of said driving shaft to a predetermined substantially uniform speed, and means for altering the mechanical transmitting connections for operation at the said predetermined speed with less than all of said springs operatively connected.

3. A spring motor for phonographs and Athe like comprising in combination, a frame, a power plant mounted thereon and Vcomprising a plurality of coil springs of equal diameter arranged coaXially and side by side, a transmission connected to be driven by said springs, winding means for delivery ing energy to all of said springs, governing means for limiting the rotation of said transmission to a predetermined substantially uniform speed, and means for effecting a change in the mechanical transmitting connections of said motor to bring aboutoperation at said lpredetermined speed with less than all of said springs in operative connection. Y

Ll. A spring motor for phonographs coniprising in combination, a frame, a power plant mounted thereon and comprising a plurality of coil springs of equal diameter Y arranged coaxially and side by side, winding gear means delivering energy to all of said springs, a transmissioln including a turn table shaft connected to bedriven by all of said springs and governing means for limiting the rotation of said turn table shaft to a predetermined substantially uniform speed, and a shiftable member connected in the mechanical circuit between said winding gear and said turn table shaftto estab- Y lish a power connection for bringing about operation at said predetermined speed when less than all of said springs are in opera.- tive condition.

5. A spring motor for phonographs coin- Y both Vof said springs, a transmission con-V nected to be drive-n by both of said springs and including a turn table shaft, governing means for limiting the rotation of said turn table shaft to a predetermined substantially uniformk speed, and a Vshiftable member connected in the mechanical circuit between said winding` gear and said turn table shaft to establish a power connection for bringing about operation at said predetermined speed when any of-said springs is out of operative condition,

6. A spring motor for phonographs and the like, comprising in combination, a frame, a power means mounted upon said frame and including a plurality of springs, a turn table shaft, a power transmission operatively connected between said power means and said turn table shaft, governor means for limiting the rotation of said turn table shaft to-a predetermined substantially uniform speed, and means for effecting an alteration inV said transmission for operation at said predetermined speed with less than all of said springs in use.

7. A spring motor comprising in combination, a support, a power plant mounted thereon and comprising a plurali-ty of coaXially arranged coil springs, winding means for delivering power to be stored in said springs, a driving shaft, a gear transmission between said power means and said driving shaft. and means for establishing a changed gear connection in said ytransmission for operation with less than similar coaxial drum elements, coil springs therein, power delivery gear means on said power plant, a shiftable gear means having two positions of mesh with respect to said delivery gear means, one for operation when the springs in both said drum elements are in use and the other when the spring means included in one of said drum elements is out of use.

9. In a spring motor, in combination, a power plant-comprising a plurality of coaxial drum elements, coil springs wit-hin said drum elements, a frame, a single axial supporting rod for maintaining all of said drum elements in position, a transmission, delivery gear means on said power plant for meshing with said transmission, shaft means parallel to said supporting rod, gear means upon said shaft means, and means for shifting said gear means for establishing any of a plurality of power connections with said delivery gear means for operation with different combinations of said springs in use.

10. In a spring motor, in combination7 a pair of similar coaxial drum elements, coil spring means within said drum element-s, winding gear means for delivering power to the springs in both said drum elements, a transmission, delivery gear means upon said power plant connected to said transmission, the `spring means within the two drums being connected in parallel between said winding gears means and said transmission, said transmission including shaft means parallel to the axis of said drum elements, and gear means slidable upon said shaft means having one position of mesh with respect to said delivery gear means for operation when the spring means in both said drum elements are in use and the other when the spring means included in either of said drum elements is out of use.

11. A phonograph motor comprising in combination, a frame, a power plant including a plurality of driving spring elements thereon, winding means for delivering energy to said spring elements, a transmission means for delivering power from said units, governor means for limiting the rotation to a predetermined substantially uniform speed, and manual operating means connected to said frame for altering the mechanical transmitting connections in the completely assembled motor for operation at said predetermined speed with one of said springs out of order.

12. The combination set forth in claim 11 in which the manual operating means is completely carried by the frame.

13. In a phonograph, in combination, a cabinet, a motor secured therein, said motor including a power plant having a plurality of driving spring elements, a transmission connected tobe operated by said spring elements all drivingly connected, and manually operated means completely carried by said motor and accessible in the assembled phonograph, for changing the mechanical transmitting connections of said motor for effective operation with less than all of said springs in use.

1.4. In a phonograph motor, in combination, a pair of complementary frame portions, a nnilti-spring power plant carried by one of said frame portions, transmission means carried by the other said frame portion, winding means for delivering energ i to be stored in all of said springs, a turn table shaft to which the power is delivered by said transmission means, governor means for limiting the rotation to a predetermined substantially uniform speed, means for changing the power connection in the mechanical circuit between said winding means and said turn table shaft for operation at said predetermined speed with less than all of the springs functioning, and a lever arranged to be manually operated for operatupon one of said frame portions and the end for application of manual force arranged to be accessible when the motor is operatively disposed w'thin a phonograph.

15. In a phonograph motor, in combination, a pair of complement-ary frame portions, a multi-spring power plant carried by one of said frame portions, transmission means carried by the other of said frame portions, winding means for delivering energy to be stored in all of said springs, a turn table shaft to which the power is delivered by said transn'iission, a coupling member for changing the power connection 4 in the mechanical circuit between said winding means and said turn table shaft for operation with less than all of the springs functioning and means for operating said coupling member, said means comprising a lever having its fulcrum on one of said frame portions, an operating handle at one end of the lever arranged to be accessible when the motor is mounted in place within a phonograph and a shifting rod supported by one of said frame portions and connecting said coupling member to the opposite end of said lever.

16. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a multi-spring phonograph motor having a fra-me, a shifting lever pivoted intermediate its ends upon said frame, said lever having an end acceslng said means, said lever having its fulcrum sible from the exterior of the phonograph for manual operation when said motor is mounted in place, a slidable rod connected to the opposite end of said lever, coupling means controlled by said rod to establish any of a plurality of connections within the.

motor, said lever having aresilient portion and having a restraining means near its operating end projecting from the plane in which said lever moves.

17. In a phonograph, in combination, a casing, a multi-spring motor therein having a frame, a transmission member embodied in said motor adapted to be shifted into any of a plurality of positions of adjustment for operation of the motor with difl'erent combinations of said springs in use, a shifting lever for operating said transmission member, said lever having a fulcrum intermediate the ends thereof and upon the frame of` said motor, the free or o-perating end of said lever extending through a wall element Vof said casing, said lever being resilient and having a lug, and a plate upon said wall element, said plate having notches and being arranged with respect to said resilient lever in suchV position that when said lever is brought into registry with any said notch, the lug thereon will be urged thereinto by virtue of the resiliency of said lever, thereby retaining said transmission member in one of its positions of adjustment, each said notch corresponding to a position of adjustment.

18. In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a phonograph having a motor board, a notched metallic plate upon said motor board, a phonograph motor secured to the lower surface of said motor board, a. resilient lever pivoted to the frame of said motor and having an operating end extending above said notched plate, a. lug upon said lever adapted to be projected into a notch in said notched plate by the resiliency of said lever when said lever.

is brought into registry tl'ierewith, a rod slidably disposed in the frame of said niotorand connected to the other end of said lever, and means under control of said rod for selectively establishing any of a pluralityof possible mechanical connections within the. motor.

i9. A motor comprising in combination, a plurality of similar springs arranged in equal groups, winding means for delivering energy to be stored therein, a transmission, said groups being connected in multiple between said winding means and said trans'- niission, governing means for limiting the rotationnf said transmission to a predetermined substantially uniform speed, and means for setting the speed multiplying ra.- tio of said transmission to a value proportional to the number of the groups of springs operatively connected, whereby the.

operation will be `at said predeterminedV limiting the rotation of said transmission under all conditions of operation to a predetermined substantially uniform speed, said transmission including gear shifting means for halving the ratio of speed multiplication when one of said units is disconnected or becomes out of order, whereby the motor will have substantially double the running time when both the power-units are operatively connected as compared to that when only one is in use. Y

21. ln a phonograph motor, in combination, winding means, a transmission driven thereby including a. turn table shaft, a pair of spring power units connected in parallel between said winding mechanism and said transmission, a delivery gearV for said power means, governing means for limiting'the rotation of said transmission to a Vpredetermined substantially uniform speed, said transmission including a pair of gears, one having substantially twice the number of teeth of the other arranged so that either can be disposed in mesh with-said deliver gear, the other being demeshed, said smaller gear being employed in operationl with both spring elements functioning, whereby upon one of said elements Vbecoming out of order and shifting yof gears to Aplace the larger gear in mesh Vwith said delivery gear and and to deinesh the smaller, said motor will operate upon the operative spring means at said predetermined speed, the running time thereof being approximately one half of the running time upon both springs.

22. In a phonograph motor, in combination. a core member and a drum member coaxial therewith, a plurality of springs arranged side by side, each secured near one end to said core member and coiled thereabout, disposed within said drum member and secured thereto near its outer-end, winding means connected to one of said core and drum members, power delivery means connected to the other thereof, transmission means connected to said power delivery units, governor means for limiting the rotation to a predetermined substantially uniform speed, andmanually operated means to set the ratio of said transmission so that the running time of the completely wound up motor will be substantially proportional to the number of springs in operative condition. j

23. In a phonograph motor, in combination, a core member and a drum member coseY llfi

axial therewith, a pair of springs coiled about said core member and within said drum member, each said spring being connected at one end to said core member and at the other to said drum member, winding means directly connected to said core mem ber, a power delivery gear directly connected to said drum member, a transmission connected to be driven by said gear, said transmission including a gear meshing with said power delivery gear and a second gear of double the number of teeth of said latter gear normally in idle position, manual means for shifting said gears to substitute said larger gear for said smaller gear in order to change the speed multiplying ratio of said transmission, whereby when both of said springs are in operative condition and said smaller gear is employed in the transmission, the running time will be twice that resulting from the use of the larger gear in the transmission with one of said springs broken or disconnected.

24;. In a phonograph motor, in combination, a core member and a drum member coaxial therewith, a pair of springs coiled about said core member and within said drum member, eachl said spring being connected at one end to said core member and at the other to said drum member, winding means directly connected to said core member, a power delivery gear directly connected to said drum member, a transmission con nected to be driven by said gear, said transmission comprising a shaft, a gear slidably mounted thereon and meshing with said power delivery gear, a second shaft and a gearniounted thereon, double the size of the former gear and shiftable to mesh with said power delivery gear but normally out of engagement therewith, manually operated shifting means connected to said transmis` sion gears for substituting the larger for the smaller gear in the transmission circuit to reduce the ratio of speed multiplication upon rupture of one of said springs so that the motor may operate at full speed with only one of said springs in operative condition.

25. In a phonograph motor, in combination, a frame, a core member and a drum member coaxial therewith, a pair of springs coiled about said core member and within said drum member, each said spring being connected at one end to said core member and at the other to said drum member, winding means directlyconnected to said core member, a power delivery gear directly connected to said drum member, a transmission connected to be driven by said gear, said transmission including a iiist shaft, a gear slidably mounted thereon and meshing with said power delivery gear, a second shaft slidably arranged parallel to said iirst shaft, a gear secured thereto of double the number of teeth of said first gear and adapted to mesh with said power delivery gear but normally out of engagement therewith, a second gear upon said first shaft, a second gear upon said second shaft, a third gear rotatable in said frame and in mesh with said second gear upon said first shaft, and means for'shifting said first transmission gear to disconnect the same from said power delivery gear and concurrently to shift said second shaft to place said larger gear in mesh with said power delivery gear, and to mesh the second gear upon said second shaft with said third gear, whereby upon rupture of one of the springs of said motor and performance of a shifting operation the larger gear is substituted for the smaller one in the power transmission, thereby reducing the power ratio for operation upon one spring, and the'power is transmitted from said second shaft through said third gear to said first shaft, whereby the direction of rotation of the turn table will be the same whether both springs or only one spring is 1n operative condition.

26. A spring motor comprising in combination, a frame, a spring power plant mounted thereon, governor means for limiting the operation to a predetermined substantially uniform speed, and means for altering the mechanical connection for operation at the said predetermined speed with a section of said power plant out of operative connection.

27. In a phonograph, in combination, a cabinet, a motor therein, said motor having a plurality of driving spring elements, transmission means connected to be operated by said spring element-s, and manually operated means accessible in the assembled phonograph for changing the mechanical transmitting connections of said motor for effective operation with, less than all of said springs in use.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 20th day of October A. D. 1920.

MAXIMILIAN WEIL. 

